


Symmetra September

by subdivisions



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi, Other, Symmetra September, some background Pharmei
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 17:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12017493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subdivisions/pseuds/subdivisions
Summary: A celebration of Symmetra - a 30 Day Challenge.





	1. Day One - Default Skin

Satya didn’t pick the outfit.

It was given to her when she was assigned her first mission. She liked it, but she wasn’t really sure how functional it was, given the nature of her work - but she wore it all the same. Soon, it became her signature look; she found herself in it to demonstrate the vast versatility of Vishkar’s hard-light technology one day and then would still be wearing it later the same evening while she searched the office of a CEO who had been sitting in the front row.

She didn’t think much of the outfit. She didn’t even associate it with her work for Vishkar - she only did that with the uniforms, which she left behind the day she’d departed Utopaea. Even as an agent of Overwatch, she donned her blue, black and gold without even thinking about it and went about her work. It didn’t - _do_ anything. She didn’t do her job any differently with it on than she might have in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. 

“You know, that outfit you wear on missions is cute,” Hana had said one day as they prepped for a mission, “but y’know, you’re all over magazine covers in that. Isn’t it time you change your look?”

This, coming from the international superstar walking around in a giant pink mech. “I could ask you the same thing,” Satya said. “I think you’re more recognisable than me.”

  “MEKA doesn’t care that I’m here,” Hana retorted. “But you and Vishkar have a different relationship.” She stepped towards the door, then paused. “It’s cute, but that’s just something to think about.”

Satya thought about it. She didn’t get rid of the outfit. And she didn’t think about it again until several months later, when she was standing in the office of her former boss, holding a sheaf of papers and a tablet, both full of information that could finally tear the organisation apart.

“You kept it,” Sanjay said, eyeing her from his place in the doorway. 

“Step aside,” Satya ordered. 

“I was the one who picked it out,” he said, a cold smile twitching at his lips. “A functionless piece of fabric. A touch more durable than most, but useless all the same. Only good for appearances, just like the woman it was meant for.”

Anger fluttered in Satya’s chest, but she swallowed it back, refusing to give him the satisfaction. “Say what you want, Sanjay. But unless you intend to try and stop me, I don’t care about a thing that comes out of your mouth.”

She brushed past him, but before she could leave, he grabbed her prosthetic arm. “There isn’t a thing about you that Vishkar didn’t give you - your arm, your knowledge, even the gaudy outfit you’re wearing now. Think about that when you and your new friends are making all that information public.”

Satya tugged her arm out of his grip and moved on. 

Days later, as they watched Vishkar flounder in the legal aftermath, Satya told Hana what Sanjay had said.

“Who cares if he picked it?” Hana said, scrolling through article after article on Vishkar’s downfall. “MEKA gave me the pink mech and the plugsuit, but they’re both mine. He’s not the one wearing it. It’s yours. It’s _you.”_ She glanced up at Satya. “It suits you.”

“Thank you,” Satya said. “I’m rather attached to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short, but I was a few days late when I wrote this. Plus, sometimes brevity is okay, I think.


	2. Day Two - Favorite Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can't waltz around Oasis in just anything.

“If this is meant to help you blend in, I honestly do not see how,” Angela said, frowning at Satya in the mirror. She lifted up the headpiece she held, frowing at its eyeless mask. “It isn’t that I don’t like it…”

“It’s just to get me into the university so I can speak to the dean,” Satya said, plucking the headpiece from Angela’s hands. She smiled at it, regarding its careful, exquisite craftmanship - the sleek, off-white surface, the golden wings over her ears, the hardlight accents. Gauzy fabric flowed from the back of it, fluttering gently. “I’ll have an easier time if I don’t look like an outsider.”

“You don’t just look like an outisder,” Angela said, watching Satya slip the headpiece over her head. “You look like an extraterrestrial.”

Satya turned to give Angela a look, but her expression was unreadable with the mask. The only indication that she was displeased was her frown. “You don’t have to like it, it just has to work.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it!” Angela said, holding up her hands to show her innocence. “I do. It’s working that I’m worried about.”

Satya turned back to the mirror, brushing a piece of lint from her skirt. She gave her reflection a satisfied smile. “It will work. The fashions in Oasis are far ahead of fashion anywhere else in the world. In the meantime, let’s see what the others think.”

She turned smoothly on her heel and strode from the room, forcing Angela to jump up and follow behind. 

The others - McCree, Mei, D.Va, and Tracer - were mostly there to provide backup along with Angela; the only reason they were going to Oasis was to determine whether or not the mutterings about it being a potential Talon target sometimes soon in the intelligence community had any truth to them. If Talon did attack, they’d be ready to meet them, but more prudent was discovering what Talon was after in the first place. Thus, Satya’s disguise.

They were all waiting in the briefing room with Winston and Soldier: 76. Jesse whistled lowly when Satya entered the room, and everyone looked up.

“Whoa!” Hana jumped up. “Satya, you look like a space queen! That’s so cool!”

“I thought you were an architect, not a designer!” Lena, too, was on her feet, and zipped to Satya’s side to look at the details of her outfit more closely. “This is amazing!”

“Architecture is not my only passion,” Satya replied, giving Angela a smug smile. 

“That’s some mighty fine work you’ve done,” Jesse remarked, sauntering over with Mei following close behind. “I know who to come to for help with my Halloween costume this year.”

Only Soldier: 76 seemed less than impressed, watching from his place against the table as Mei knelt to admire the delicate hardlight intertwined with firm yet gauzy fabric that made up Satya’s boots. “If things get dicey, are you gonna be able to fight in that?”

Satya lifted her chin haughtily. “I assure you, I will be no more hindered in this than in anything else I might choose to wear. If you do not believe me, I will be _more_ than happy to show you.”

Soldier: 76 bristled, and Winston cleared his throat. “W-Well, if you’re ready, Agent Vaswani, you should all finish prepping and head to the dropship. Good luck to all of you.” As everyone began to file from the room, he cleared his throat again. “By the way, Agent Vaswani… you look very nice.”

Satya smiled. “Thank you, Winston.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short piece! I love the Oasis skin. Blizzard would really have to knock my socks off to make me switch to something else.


	3. Day Three - Your Outfit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satya counts her blessings.

Even heroes needed to buy groceries. 

It was a little tricky, going grocery shopping; they were all, technically, fugitives, and many of them were easily recognizable - as was the case with Lúcio, Aleksandra, Hana, even Satya to some degree. Still, they had to eat.

They kept leaving whatever Watchpoint they’d happened to be at to a minimum, but when it came time to go grocery shopping, they would call a morning meeting and Angela would write up a list while everyone took turns listing things they wanted or ingredients they needed for when it was their turn to make dinner. Then, Angela would split the list into three separate parts, dividing them into categories - meats and produce, baked goods and snacks, etcetera. After the lists were made, they would draw straws to determine who would be leaving the Watchpoint in a group of six. The group would be split off into pairs and each pair would be given their section of the list and a wad of money (cards loaded with credits would have been more efficient, but they were traceable) and then they would take a dropship to whatever city was closest.

This time around, the group was Jesse, Satya, Lúcio, Mei, Fareeha, and Hana. Lúcio immediately and loudly declared that he would not be paired with Satya, and chose to go with Hana. Mei, who was quietly nursing a crush, shyly asked Fareeha if they could be a pair. This left Satya, who told herself that she didn’t really care who she was paired with, with Jesse.

Satya quietly excused herself, leaving Jesse to collect the list while she got dressed and ready to go. Winston always made a point of reminding them to dress inconspicously; Satya sadly eyed some of her more flattering outfits in the closet as she pulled a white camisole and a shortsleeved seafoam green and white plaid shirt out of one drawer and a dark pair of jeans in the other. She settled on a pair of Vans Hana had given her ( _“They sent me the wrong size,” Hana had explained, thrusting the box into Satya’s hands. “They’re sending a new pair for free, so you can have these”_ ). They were pretty - galaxies swirling atop a deep navy blue background. After giving her hair a quick brush and quickly applying a little makeup, Satya shouldered a black backpack purse with pink flowers and their petals dotting its surface (another gift from Hana) and turned to the door.

When it slid open, she jumped when she saw Jesse was waiting on the other side, his hand poised to knock. “Oh!”

Jesse dropped his hand, looking apologetic. “Sorry, Miss Satya - didn’t mean to startle you. Just came to tell you the others are just about ready to go…”

“I’m ready as well,” Satya said, and he stepped aside to let her pass. She looked him over - Jesse often ended up standing out the most among them in terms of the way he dressed, but today he had kept it simple with a red flannel and jeans. The boots were still there, sans spurs, but there was no cowboy hat or gaudy belt in sight. “I’ve never seen you without your - what is it? - sarape. I was beginning to wonder if it was attached to you.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you dressed so casual myself,” Jesse replied teasingly. “I brought you an earpiece, by the way.”

It had been agreed on after an unfortunate and confusing run-in with local law enforcement that they should all wear earpieces so that if something went wrong, they could always contact each other and the Watchpoint. Satya took the earpiece from Jesse, giving him an appreciative smile as she tucked it into her ear. Already she could hear quiet background noise from the others, likely milling around the dropship. Jesse motioned down the hall.

“Shall we?” he said. 

The ride to the mainland was quiet. Fareeha piloted the dropship, chatting quietly with Mei. Hana and Lúcio both popped in headphones; Hana’s were plugged into a handheld game while Lúcio listened to music, glancing distrustfully at Satya every so often. Satya just sat quietly next to Jesse, her hands folded neatly in her lap, listening to Fareeha and Mei’s soft conversation against the quiet hum of the ship. Jesse, sitting on her right, made no move to start conversation. Satya wondered if she should initiate. She couldn’t tell whether he wanted to talk or not, and she was enjoying the silence, besides.

It was nice, she thought. There was something so very… normal about going shopping that she hadn’t had the chance to really enjoy since she’d left Utopaea. She’d taken it or granted then, but now she was looking forward to wandering around a grocery store for a few hours, shopping for her friends. Her family. Ah, that was weird to think about, but really she couldn’t think of a better word for what her fellow agents of Overwatch had become to her. 

It was a wonderful thing, having a family.

“What’re you grinnin’ about?” Jesse asked, pulling her from her thoughts. 

She blinked. “Oh, I was just thinking about something especially pleasant.”

“And that would be?”

She smiled. “I was just thinking that it’s nice to be able to go shopping for your family. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He was quiet for a moment. When she looked up at him, he was smiling, too. “Family, huh?”

“Friends doesn’t quite feel like the right word to use,” Satya said, thinking he was questioning her use of the word. “It isn’t _close_ enough. Family is more like what we all have.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” Jesse nodded. “Y’know, it’s been so quiet lately… I’ve been thinkin’ about how boring it is bein’ on the Watchpoint day in and day out, but…”

“It’s nice just to have your whole family around you,” Satya said quietly. “I’m very lucky to have you. All of you. I shudder to think of the person I was before I joined your ranks.”

“You were a good person then, too,” Jesse said simply. “Just surrounded by all the wrong people.”

“A good person?” Satya repeated, wondering why hearing him say that was making her feel so giddy inside.

“I mean, I sure think so. People make mistakes. But I think it’s whether or not they choose to do somethin’ about it, right those wrongs and try to change, that tells you if they’re a good person.” He smiled down at her. “And that’s just what you did.”

Satya fell silent and looked down at her hands in her lap, his words running through her head. It was such a simple thing, but she couldn’t determine why it made her so happy. After a moment, she finally spoke again. 

“Thank you.”

He looked at her, and she heard him start to say something, but was interrupted by Athena. “We are about to begin our descent, agents.” 

Jesse patted her on the shoulder and then stood to move to the seats with restraints, and Satya stood as well, albeit a bit slower than he did. 

_You were a good person then, too._

Satya smiled and followed after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit longer this time, to make up for being three days behind now!!!  
> I love writing happy Satya~~


End file.
